Eating in Season Packs a Powerful Punch

Eating in season is not a fleeting fad. If you’re interested in eating well and getting nutrition from fruits and vegetables, eating in season is all about eating locally.

Fruits and vegetables lose flavor when they’re stored in warehouses, chilled or shipped. Some fruits and vegetables are even coated in wax or other preservatives to keep from spoiling during shipment. When you eat in season, you eat fresh fruits and vegetables that travel just a short distance from the farm to your table.

There’s a bounty in your backyard

With the weather warming up, farmers’ markets are beginning to pop up in public spaces like parks or parking lots. Local farmers sell their fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is another way to have access to seasonal fruits and vegetables. With CSAs, farmers offer a number of shares — boxes of their produce — to the public. People interested in receiving shares usually purchase them via membership or subscription.

Both farmers’ markets and CSAs are not limited to simply produce, either. Farmers sell eggs, meat, cheese, flowers and other farm products.

In March, April and May, look forward to this fresh seasonal selection:

• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Beets
• Carrots
• Fava Beans
• Fennel
• Greens
• Lemons
• Mint
• Mushrooms
• New Potatoes
• Pea Greens
• Radishes
• Rhubarb
• Spinach
• Strawberries